Christ's Song

The building is packed. The lights are dim. People are singing passionately. Thousands of hands are up in the air. Tears are streaming down some faces. Some are bouncing with joy. Some are down on their knees and silent and overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the event. The energy in the room is palpable. The musicians are in perfect sync. The vocalists are spot on. The whole experience is transcendent. Is that a description of worship? Well, of course it is, right? Of course it's worship. What else could it be? But is it Christian worship? You see, as has already been said this morning, we are all worshipers. We are all worshiping something at all times. The question is not whether that is worship, but whether it's Christian worship, what the object of that worship is. For it to be Christian worship, we have to know more, right? For Christians, the experience in and of itself is subordinate to the content of the worship, the object of worship. True worship is in spirit and truth. True worship is always about responding rightly to God's gracious disclosure of himself, particularly in the person and work of Jesus Christ. So based on that picture, we simply don't have enough information to know whether or not it's Christian worship. We have to know what they're singing about, what's going on in each individual's heart, to know how they're responding to the truth about God, if they are, to know if it's Christian worship. The forms themselves are not enough. So we're thinking about singing this morning, continuing a series on the church. Through this series, we've seen what the church is, the body of Christ. We've seen how the church is called to live together in such a way of putting up with one another, loving one another, humbling ourselves before one another. That's how we display God's glory. We've seen how in order to do that, the church has to gather. We have to meet together. We have to be together. We heard last week about how we come together to take communion together, to proclaim the Lord's death together, to wait for one another to do that. Today we're considering how we should sing together. So we're going to be in Colossians chapter 3, page 984 of your pew Bibles. If you don't have a Bible, please take that as our gift to you and read it. So Colossians 3 verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And what I hope for us to see this morning is that singing is a necessary response to the word, to the gospel having its effect on us, having its presence among us. If that is true, if the gospel really is working as it's supposed to be among us, we will sing. And I hope we'll see that this morning. As we, in order to do that, I want us to consider four points. Christians are to know the word, submit to the word, teach the word and sing the word. So four, four points regarding the word. So first know the word. As we see in the text, we are to know the word of Christ. So we want to think about what the word of Christ is. If that word is going to dwell in us richly, we need to know what it is. And the simple answer is, it's the gospel. It's the word about Christ. Christ is the content of the word. And so Paul, throughout Colossians, uses several expressions to describe this. He calls it the word of truth, the grace of God in truth, the word of God, the mystery, Christ, Christ in you. the hope of glory, and then here in our text, the word of Christ. We see that this is a message, it's content. Paul talks about how it's heard, it's made known, it's taught and received. And this message is about the person of Jesus Christ. So in chapter one, verse 15, Paul says, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things. And in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. So we see there that Jesus is unique. He is the divine son of God. He's the creator of everything. He's the reason everything exists. He holds all things together. He is God. But Paul goes on to describe his work. So in 1, 19 through 22, he says, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you who were once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. So he's not just God, but he's God become man. All the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in the man, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus came to reconcile us to God, to fix our relationship. We were created to be in a perfect relationship with God, but we broke that relationship. We exchanged our relationship with God for ourselves and ran away from God. We are now alienated and removed from him, hostile to him, dead to him. So in chapter two, Paul goes on to say, And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him. Having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. So in our rejection of God, we are actually rebelling against the King. We're committing treason. We're guilty. We deserve to die as rebels, but Jesus came to take our place. On the cross, his blood was shed instead of ours. All of the guilt against us was set aside because God nailed it to the cross. He counted Jesus' suffering a just punishment for our sin. But the wonder of the gospel doesn't just stop there. It doesn't just that God took away our sin, but it's that he also united us to himself in such a way that Christ is actually in us. That because of our union with Christ, we actually enjoy the same relationship that he has with the Father. The mystery of the gospel, according to Paul, is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The church is united to Christ as body is to its head. They are inseparable. Through Christ, we are qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints of light. We are presented holy and blameless and above reproach before God. Christians live in a sure hope that just as Jesus was raised from the dead in history, so too we will be raised to a glorious relationship with God. And we get to enjoy that relationship now. We are now alive to Christ, able to live to him today. So that, friends, is the gospel. That is the truth about what Jesus has done and will do for sinners, for everyone who repents and believes in Him. So that's the gospel. That's what it means to be a Christian. You have to understand what Jesus has done, who He is and what He's done for you. You don't understand it fully. None of us ever understand it fully. But we have to understand it in a fundamental way. So if you're here this morning, you're with us, you're not a Christian, or you're not sure about those things, we're glad you're here. We believe this is the place where you should come and learn about what it means to have a relationship with God. But we just want you to understand it's okay for you to be here as a non-Christian. You don't have to feel the pressure to call yourself a Christian just because you're here. We want you to be here to learn about God. You need to understand that there is one way to a relationship with God, and it's through Jesus. You have to understand your alienation, your rebellion, your sin against God, and then see the only way for you to be brought back into that relationship is through faith in Jesus. Him paying your debt, purchasing your forgiveness, reconciling you to God and purifying you to be in God's presence. This is a precious gift. There's nothing we do to earn it. This is something God does for us, for all who repent and believe in Jesus and submit to him as Lord and King. So if you have questions about that, please come and talk to me or somebody else after the service. That's what Christians are about. We want you to know it and believe it. This gospel message unites all Christians together throughout the world, throughout time and history. And so Paul is writing to a church he's never been to, to Christians he doesn't know personally. It's a church he didn't establish, and yet he sees this fundamental unity with him because they have the same gospel. So Christians are to know the word. But second, Christians are to submit to the word. So the message of the gospel, the word of Christ, is to dwell in us richly. And what this means is the gospel is supposed to affect every aspect of our lives. So in the beginning of the book, Paul prays that these Christians would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. And Paul instructs them later in chapter two. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. So we see that the gospel, it informs how we understand ourselves. We understand the things that I've just been saying are true about us. We were alienated from God. We were hostile to him. We were his enemies. We were dead in our sin. That's who we were. But now we are reconciled to God. We are raised with Christ. We are forgiven of our sins. We are alive to Him. The Gospel informs how we understand the world around us. So because of the gospel, we're compelled to reject every wrong idea about how we relate to God. We believe there is one way to God, and it's through Jesus. So we don't compromise what we believe about who Jesus is and what he's done. Nothing causes us to move away from that, to shake our confidence in who he is. We don't give in to the temptation of religion to think that somehow we make ourselves right with God by the things that we do, that we earn his favor by our deeds. We believe that God has given us Christ's righteousness to both begin and end our salvation. But at the same time, we reject the idea that what we do doesn't matter. We believe God has set us apart for holiness. He has ordained that we live, we perform good works that are pleasing to him. And so we manifest Christ's holiness in us. The gospel gives us a new identity and it changes how we live. And so Paul says in chapter three, verse five, put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if anyone has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. So let me ask you this morning, does the gospel dwell in you richly? Is this what we just read? Is that what your life looks like? Are you so full of the gospel that it's ready to come out at any point, under any circumstances? So we've all seen a glass of water that's filled all the way up to the brim. Any amount of pressure, any touch, and it causes it to spill over. Is the gospel like that in your life? So full that it's ready to come out. Anything that happens brings it out. I love this description from Pastor Spurgeon. Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the word of God and get that word into ourselves. As I've seen the silkworm eat into the leaf and consume it, so ought we to do with the word of the Lord, not crawl over its surface, but eat right in it until we have taken it into our inmost parts. It is idle, merely to let the eye glance over the words or recollect the poetical expressions or the historic facts, but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until at last you come to talk in scriptural language and your very style is fashioned upon scripture models, and what is better still, your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord. I would quote John Bunyan as an instance of what I mean. Read anything of his and you will see that it is almost like reading the Bible itself. He had read it until his very soul was saturated with scripture. And though his writings are charmingly full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his pilgrim's progress, that sweetest of all prose poems, without continually making us feel and say, why, this man is a living Bible. Prick him anywhere, his blood is bibling, and the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is so full of the word of God. I commend his example to you, beloved. I love that picture when he's pricked, his blood is bibling, he bleeds the Bible. What about us, when we're pricked, what comes out? Just to use myself as an example, this week we had an opportunity to do this and I failed. We were in the checkout, shopping as a family, somebody behind us made a comment about our beautiful children and I just politely smiled and said, thank you. What I should have said, what I will say next time, is you are right. These children are beautiful. They are a blessing from God. They are a daily reminder of God's faithfulness, his power, his goodness to us. Thank you for acknowledging and remind me of that. But that time, nothing came out. What is it that keeps the word from dwelling in us richly? Certainly sin. Certainly sin does. If we're actively pursuing rebellion against God, ignoring His Word, going our own way, then what's going to come out is poison, is filth, and not fresh water, to keep the glass analogy. But a lot of times I think it's just, it's distractions. We don't get filled. We don't fill the cup up with the Word, and so there's a lot of space in there. Now that space is, of course, an invitation for sin. It will not stay empty. But a lot of times if we're not full with the gospel, we kind of get jostled and nothing comes out. That's what happened to me. How quick are we at any moment, particularly in stressful moments, to produce from our souls what is true about God, ourselves, and others? I think a lot of times we can be influenced by the principles of scripture, some of our favorite passages especially, but when the Word dwells richly in us, it's all of the Word in all of us. We don't shy away from anything God has said and we don't withhold submission from any aspect of our lives. And that's not to say that Christians are perfect. The distinguishing characteristic of being a Christian is not being perfect, it's being repentant. We sin all the time, but when we're confronted with the clear truth from God's word, we don't make excuses, we don't blame shift, we say, that's right, we repent, we change our heart, we change our attitude, we change our behavior. And in fact, this is one of the assurances we have as Christians that God is real, that he's alive because he corrects us. If you're reading scripture and you're not being corrected, you're actually not reading it right. The question for us as God's people is, does scripture inform us or does it constrain us? Is it simply just a helpful guide, something that you sort of draw from when it's convenient, when you feel like you need help, or does it constrain you? Is it law? Does it regulate and govern the way that you think and live? Is all of the word in all of you? We've been thinking about this a lot individually, but what about us as a church? Does the gospel dwell richly in our community? We try to set up our services in such a way that it does. We try to sing the word and read the word and pray the word and preach the word and experience the word in the ordinances. This service is designed around the word, but is the word, is the gospel in our lives as a community? Does the gospel dwell richly among us? Is it abundantly obvious? To go back to the list that we read from chapter three, to what degree are we putting up with and forgiving and loving the people in this room? If we're obeying, if this is true, then this two hours right now that we're gathered should be the most refreshing two hours of your week. This is where we come together, committed to the same gospel, committed to each other, trying to encourage each other in our faith. It's where we're reminded of the multifaceted, high and deep and wide love of Christ that unites every kind of sinner as one family. This is as close as we get to heaven on earth. This community should be the safest and most loving community you could ever be around. We should have everyone's best interest in mind and trust that everyone has the same for us. But are we like that? Are you like that? What does it say about you if that's not the case? And what does it say about us as a church if that's not the case? So this is leading us into how the Word should be manifesting itself in our community. Number three, teach the Word. So know the Word, submit to the Word, teach the Word. So we see this command, we are to teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. The church is to be a community of people dwelling in the gospel, speaking it to one another, helping to apply it to each other's lives. This is the fruit of the word dwelling richly among us. It's what comes out. It's what we're producing as a community. And Paul says we're to do so in all wisdom. Earlier in his letter, he said that Jesus is the one in whom are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He warns that some things may have the appearance of wisdom, but are actually of no value, stopping the indulgence of the flesh. So true wisdom is rightly knowing and applying the word of God. It's not so much Bible trivia, knowing all the facts, but it's about taking the clear message of the Bible and applying it to every day, every aspect of life. These words, teaching and admonishing, are actually how Paul understood his own ministry. So in chapter 1, he said, him, Christ, we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. So Paul says warning and teaching. Here he tells us to be admonishing and teaching. They're the same words. Teaching and admonishing are going to emphasize both the positive and negative aspects of what we call the teaching ministry. It's referring to both the public formal teaching and the private informal counseling, one-on-one kind of teaching. It's the formative instruction, so where we say, this is what's true about God, and we dive into the depths of theology, and we come alongside new Christians to introduce them to the basics of the faith. That's teaching. And then it's also corrective. It's coming alongside encouraging, spurring on those who are struggling. It's warning the people who ought to know better. Sometimes that part makes us uncomfortable. but it's something we have to do. If the gospel is truly dwelling in us, then we are convinced that it is ultimately unloving to let someone continue in their sin. And just as we wouldn't let our kids sort of run around in the yard and play in the street just because they wanted to, wouldn't be loving to do that. We warn them, we teach them not to do it. We come alongside them and say, no, come back. Eventually we would yell and scream and even tackle them to keep them from going out in the street, to keep them from harm. And so it is in the church. We're not loving if we turn a blind eye to sin. In all wisdom, we are called to lovingly bring the gospel to those who are not walking with it. So maybe there's someone the Lord has laid upon your heart that you need to have a conversation with, somebody to come alongside to encourage, to correct. One of the things we need to do quite honestly as a church is spend a lot less time talking to each other about each other's sin and spend more time going to the people in sin and lovingly bringing the gospel to them. Again, this ministry is for everyone. Paul says this is something we are to do to one another. It's not just the professionals or the officers or those who have a unique gifting. Each one of us has this responsibility. So this also means that we all have the responsibility to be learning and growing at all times so that we're more equipped to teach and admonish one another. We never reach the point as Christians where we have nothing else to learn. It's not knowledge itself again, but it's practical theology, personal experience of the gospel in the real world. This requires that we all take responsibility for the maturity of this body, laboring and sacrificing and teaching to that end. It also requires that we have the posture of humility, that we believe that we all still need to learn things, that we need to be corrected. And I see evidence of that in this body. One of the things I'm thankful for is that you all put up with, tolerate young pastors. Somebody pointed out this week that the three of us, the three staff pastors combined were not as old as the oldest member who just passed away recently. That's a good thing. I'm thankful for that. So just to put this in very practical experience. Picture yourselves sitting down at first Sunday lunch. Maybe not with the people you normally sit with, but just sort of a random. If we assign seats, we just randomly seated you all in the fellowship hall. You're sitting down with members of this body. Can you learn from everyone at the table with you? Regardless of age, regardless of education, do you see that each saint at your table has a unique experience of God's grace from which you can learn? Can you be corrected by anyone at your table? Do you approach that table with the assumption that every saint at that table may have insight into your life, may see sin in your life that you don't see yourself? And do you approach that table seeing the responsibility to teach Christ to each one of those people, to see that each one at that table is growing, is maturing in their faith? Maybe that's something you do right there at the table. Maybe it's something you set up to do later in the week. But do you see it as your job to teach each one in Christ? That kind of culture is radically different from the world out there. But don't you see how that culture is exactly what Paul is talking about? It's just the fruit of the word dwelling richly in us as a community. It's having its intended effect on a body of Christians who are committed to each other. That's just what we would do. It's what would come natural to us. And I think we'll see that even more clearly in the final point, sing the word. Sing the word. So I want us to make five points about singing. Five points about singing. First, that we sing matters. That we sing matters. So the fact is, as has been said already, God created us to be a singing people. We see it as early as Genesis 2, when God gives Adam the gift of Eve, he doesn't just say, thank you. He's overcome, he's overwhelmed with emotion and he breaks out into poetry and probably song. This is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. I've never seen anything like this. God, thank you. He overflows into song. All of us sing. We are all moved so deeply about something that mere words don't capture. We need the emotion of song to fully express what we're feeling. And friends, nothing is created to make us sing like the gospel. We were created to worship God, to love God, to be consumed with God. And so that's why talking about that picture at the beginning, that's not wrong. That is worship. All of the things in this world are designed not as ends in and of themselves, but to lead us to culminate in the worship of God. So one of the ways that we do that is in song. So the fact that we sing matters. Second, how we sing matters. So Paul tells us we should sing with thankfulness in our hearts to God. Profound thankfulness. Thankfulness is the only right response to the gospel. Thankfulness is a necessary fruit of the Word dwelling in us richly. If you're not thankful, the Word is not having its effect on you. It's not dwelling in you richly. So if we're really as bad as the Bible says we are, and we are, and if we are really saved, if God has really forgiven our sin and made us righteous in Christ, and he has, then brothers and sisters, we never lack a reason to give thanks. If we deserve eternal wrath for our sin, and we've been spared of that, how can we not respond with eternal thanksgiving? So I've got to revisit something that I've said in a sermon previously. There is no such thing as Christian complaining. To grumble or to murmur is to lose sight of all of the good that God has done for us in Jesus Christ. It's to have a warped and twisted perspective of the world. And we do this all the time. Yes, yes, I deserve hell, and instead I got heaven. But look at this traffic. Yes, yes, God, I was once your enemy, and I'm now seated at your table, but can you believe what they're serving for dinner tonight? Yes, I have eternal rest in Christ, but boy, I did not get much sleep last night. Yes, I was filthy, and Christ cleansed me to be his bride, but I don't have a boyfriend. Yes, I was spiritually bankrupt and God gave me the riches of his glory. But it sure would be nice to have some new stuff. Church, let's put a stop to that. Let's vow to put an end to complaining here and now. Let's set our minds on the gospel and encourage one another to do so as well. Thankfulness is the only right response to what God has done for us in Christ, and singing helps us to do that. So how we sing matters. Third, what we sing matters. What we sing matters. The songs that we sing are actually one of the primary ways we allow the gospel to dwell richly in us. And that's why we are very intentional about the songs we sing as a church. We believe we have to sing what is true about God as he's revealed himself in his word. We sing of his character, his power, his faithfulness throughout history, his goodness to us as his people. So Paul says we're supposed to sing in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It's not clear. Nobody really knows exactly what that means. And that's confusing for us because we have three very clear categories of psalms from the Old Testament, hymns in the rack in front of you, and spiritual songs, which are not either of those two things. That's not what Paul is talking about. It's clear that those terms can be used for other things, especially the word psalms. But it seems that what he's emphasizing is a variety of singing. Now picture this, in just a couple decades into the life of the church, the church is still an infant, and yet already they are producing a variety of songs, singing about the goodness and the salvation of God. Those people had something to sing about, and they were singing. What is clear for us is that what we sing must be constrained by the word. Before we sing a song, the first question we have to ask is, is this true? Does it say directly or does it confirm or does it elaborate on what scripture says is true about God? And even more, as Christians, we have to ask, is the focus of this song the supreme manifestations of God's work of redemption and sending his son to die for our sin? So as we sing, no Jew or Muslim or Mormon or Jehovah's Witness should be able to sing what we're singing together. This also means that we should never be more engaged with the music that's happening than we are engaged with our minds. So the tune may be stirring, the lyrics may be catchy, but if they're not true, then what we're doing is not Christian worship. For Christian, the content always governs and constrains our feelings. We may have that spine tingling when we sing a so-called Christian song or when we sing the national anthem, but we're only worshiping as Christians when we are responding to what is true about God and what he's done. So what we sing matters. Fourth, who we sing with matters. Who we sing with matters. Singing is an intimate and unifying experience. And that's not just true for Christians. So you can picture a concert with 50,000 teenage girls all there together in love with one young man on the stage who's wearing the same skinny jeans that they're wearing. I don't understand it, but it's true. You can think about the World Cup, and you've got teams for 90 minutes singing the anthem of their song. That's what I love about the World Cup. There's so much energy. But for the whole match, singing the song of their team, carrying them on. Think about soldiers training together, marching from place to place, singing the song that represents their unit. Singing unites people. Our singing together as a church is a way of uniting us together in Christ. The gospel put into song is our anthem. It unites us in identity and purpose. And unlike all those other examples, our bonds as Christians are eternal. So the worship that takes place in the stadium or the concert hall is unifying as long as the experience lasts, but it's over quickly when everyone's fighting through the aisles and fighting in the parking lot on their way home. And soldiers may remember their band of brothers for a lifetime, but most of them go on with their separate lives. The bonds between Christians last forever. Our unity goes well beyond our gathering into the facets of everyday life and then together into glory. When we sing the gospel, we are united together, not just as a church, but with saints around the world. And when we sing some songs with saints throughout history, we are all joining together, singing the gospel. But there's something special about when this happens in a local church. We may all have a common identity as Christians, but it's here where we're in the same bunker, we're in the same foxhole, we're in the trenches together, we're in a more personal and intimate way connected to one another. We're called to be responsible for each other, that we aren't called to be responsible for any Christian on this world. There's something special about our singing together. And this is one of the reasons we should actually be on guard emotionally when we're singing with other people. who we sing with affects us. Whether it's singing the national anthem at a ball game or singing at a secular concert, those experiences move us, they affect us. And I'm not saying you shouldn't do those things, but I'm saying you should be careful when you do. Your fundamental unity and identity are in Christ. And I think this is why we need to be even more careful when we're talking about so-called Christian music. Particularly if you struggle with the style or lack of style, what we do here on Sunday mornings, who we sing with matters. And we want to be careful and wary about developing unhealthy emotional and spiritual bonds outside of the protection of this church, because they actually weaken the bonds that we have with each other within the church. Pursuing those experiences throughout the week can make church dull and boring and actually make you less engaged with the members of this body. Who we sing with matters. Fifth, why we sing matters. What is all this singing about in the first place? According to Paul, it's one of the ways that we teach and admonish each other. And I would actually say it's one of the most important ways that we teach and admonish one another. Singing is one of the few things we do together that we all do the same way at the same time. So on a given Sunday, one person preaches, a handful of people teach, a handful of people pray, some counsel. But when we sing, we're all doing it together. The reason we sing, we've already talked about that it's a necessary, it's a right response to the gospel. But why do we do it together? It's for the purpose of teaching each other. As we sing together, we are affirming truth about God. We are affirming what's true about God, about Jesus, about ourselves, about the gospel, about the world, about what is to come. Each song is a theology lesson. As we sing, we are teaching these truths to one another. We are affirming these truths to one another. So I wonder how much ownership do you take for the songs that we sing together as a church? You really should invest your time and energy in learning these songs. One of the practical ways to do this is just take the bulletin home each week and use it in your quiet times, your family devotions, whatever you do to pursue Christ spiritually throughout the week. Use the bulletin, use our songs, get to know them. It'll help you to be more engaged when we're here. It'll help you to engage others while you're here. When we do a good job of picking the songs on Sundays, it'll help you to meditate on the truths that we heard that past week. If you have questions about a song, come to us, ask us. If you don't know what something means, look it up. If you're not sure we should sing something, bring it to our attention. What we sing matters. We want you to be invested in it. We want you to own it. Singing is a vital ministry of the church. The reality is, the irony is, we will remember precious little of what is taught from this pulpit. But we will remember, we will memorize what we sing. As we teach, we also admonish one another, we warn, we rebuke, we counsel one another. In light of what is true about God, we are encouraging one another, we are teaching one another how to respond to that in our lives. This is one of the most beautiful things about the church singing together. The more intimately we know each other, the more intimately we know the struggles that one another are going through, the more rich and full our Sunday experiences will be as we see and encourage one another to respond to who God is and what he's done for us. It's a beautiful thing on Sundays. I'll never forget a particular Sunday morning when this happened to me in a profound way. It was like getting run over by a Mack truck. Some of you know that we were foster parents to our daughter, Rebecca, for a couple of years. And the first year was really, really difficult. Lots of ups and downs, lots of questions about whether or not she was going to stay with us. And one particular week, it seemed like her parents were maybe starting to turn a quarter and get their lives back together. And we were told that week that she was probably going back to them very soon. And we were devastated. I remember coming to church that morning. I don't know anything else that happened that day. I don't know who preached. I don't know what the sermon text was. But I'll never forget that we sang that morning, a mighty fortress is our God. And what I should say is that the church sang that. They sang it because I didn't sing that morning. I wept through the entire song. Because for months, At night I had been rocking her to sleep on my chest, at night feeding her, rocking her to sleep, singing to her, a mighty fortress is our God. Trying to form her little heart to start right now, believing that God is big and powerful and trustworthy and reliable and dependable and all of those things, trying to form that into her soul. And there I was at church crumbling. wrestling with the reality that we were probably gonna lose this little girl who we loved dearly and wanted desperately. And so I was wavering in my faith. I was struggling with whether or not I could believe that God was good in letting her come to us for a short time and then take her away from us. But the church rebuked me that morning. I don't think anybody actually knew it at the time, but they rebuked me. Because as a body, they sang to me, let goods and kindred go. And in my heart, in that moment, what I was saying is, letting her go. Letting her go is going to kill me. And the church had an answer for me that morning. The body. they may kill. God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. And I was confronted with a choice in that moment. Is this about His kingdom or is it about mine? Is it about His ways or mine? And by God's grace that morning, I yielded. You're right, you're right, she is yours. Do as you please. Now in God's exceeding kindness, he gave Rebecca to us. But God changed me that day. And I cannot sing that song without remembering the weight of that moment. And usually getting choked up and not able to sing at all, but hearing you sing it to me and reminding me still to let go. Brothers and sisters, that happens here every Sunday. Many of us come together after a week of sin, weighed down with worry and guilt and shame and fear, and we need to hear the gospel. Not just a sentence, not just a sermon, but we need to hear it wash over us again and again and again like waves in the ocean. Sometimes we come together rejoicing and it's not enough for us just to praise God ourselves. We need to invite people in. We need to welcome them into our celebration because we have good news and good news to share. And that's what we're doing. Every Sunday we're ushered together into praise and thanksgiving and confession and repentance and hope and trust in Christ. Each of us needs to hear that every week and each of us needs to speak that every week. So we come together to sing. We sing to God, we sing to ourselves, but we sing especially to each other. Sometimes the songs that we sing meet us right where we are emotionally. Sometimes the songs we sing lead us to where we ought to be emotionally. But always, each week, what they should do is lead us out of ourselves and into the experiences of each other's lives. The goal of congregational worship is not the stimulation of our individual feelings, but it's the corporate rehearsing and responding to the gospel. That's why we do music the way we do here. The guiding principle for us is to let the people sing, to facilitate the congregation singing. The songs that we choose, the way that we play them, the instruments that we use, all have one goal in view, and that's to get you all to sing. We have very talented musicians. They serve sacrificially. God blesses us tremendously through them. Thank you to those of you who serve in music. But the goal of the Sunday service is not to showcase the talent that God has blessed us here in terms of music. If somebody walks away from our service impressed by the music, then we have failed as a church. The job of the musicians is just to facilitate the congregational voice and nothing more. What happens up here on the stage shouldn't distract from, but only enable us to sing God's word together. And this is one place that I am so grateful for this church. We sing well. We sing some songs better than we sing others, but we always give it a good effort. And I'm so thankful for that. It is so encouraging to come in here and hear the people sing. And even if you don't sing well, especially if you don't sing well, it is great to hear you, to see and hear you singing joyfully on Sunday mornings. Singing is one of the things that actually stands out to people who visit this church. Unfortunately, singing together is actually getting less and less common in churches. When an outsider comes in and sees us fully participating as one body, it blows them away. It stands in stark contrast to the worldly expectations of this consumer-driven society that we live in. Never has it been easier to hear what you want, only what you want, when you want it. This is true for Christians just as much as anyone else. But brothers and sisters, as we come together, the church service is not your iPod, your phone, your Pandora station, your YouTube channel with custom created or recommended playlists to fit your individual preferences. It's the place where we gather to submit all of our individual preferences to one another and to be fully united in one body in the glorious saving work of our head, Jesus Christ. So as we come together as a church, We should not be thinking, I hope we get to sing my favorite song today. What we should be thinking is, I hope we get to sing your favorite song today. We should gather with joyful and energetic enthusiasm to sing the gospel to one another, to build one another up and to spur one another on in our faith. It's the one ministry we can all do. So let's own it, brothers and sisters. Sometimes we close our eyes when we sing. I do it sometimes now if I'm distracted by what I'm seeing and I just wanna just take in in an audio way, whatever, hear your voices and just let them wash over me just to rest in that truth. In the past though, I've been tempted to do it and sort of pretend, you know, in my mind what was going on is that no one else is around. It's just kind of me and God, me and Jesus standing there and I'm singing to him. But I'm not sure we should do that. To go back to an earlier illustration, it's not the one fan who's truly passionate, who's got face and body paint, who's cheering loudly that spurs on the team. It's the thousands and thousands who come together united for one purpose. That's what spurs on and motivates the team. And so it is with God. God's glory is magnified, not just by the talents of any one individual, but by a people coming together in different in many ways, and yet fully united, fully responding to all that God has done for us in Christ. And so, brothers and sisters, we will sing for all eternity. And I don't mean that heaven will be choir practice. In my mind, that cues Hank Williams, if heaven ain't a lot like Dixie. It's not choir practice, but for all eternity, our entire beings will be fully engaged in responding to all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ. That's what singing is. It's fully engaged, fully responding. As we read it earlier in the service, they sing a new song. The angels sing a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain. And by your blood, you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priest to God, and they shall reign on the earth. You see, brothers and sisters, heaven never gets over the gospel. The angels are singing a new song about the same God, the same Savior, the same salvation. Heaven never gets over the gospel, and neither should we. May the gospel dwell in us richly and so fill us, brothers and sisters, that we cannot help but sing. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we sing that your mercy is the theme of our song, the joy of our hearts, the boast of our tongues, that your free grace alone from the first to the last has won our affections and bound our souls fast. Make it so. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.